Olaf I Tryggvason c.965-1000
King of Norway

The great-grandson of Harald I Halfdanarson (Fair Hair), he was brought up in Novgorod at the court of Prince Vladimir I, and became a Viking mercenary in the Baltic. In the early 990s he took part in Viking expeditions to Britain, and was the leader of the Viking army that defeated the Anglo-Saxons at Maldon (991). He returned to harry England (994) under the King of Denmark, Svein I Haraldsson (Fork-Beard), and was converted to Christianity. He returned to Norway (995), where he seized the throne and attempted, with limited success, to convert Norway to Christianity by force. Five years later he was overwhelmed by a combined Danish and Swedish fleet at Svold (1000). When defeat became inevitable he leapt overboard and was never seen again.